Good health for all is a goal of every country. The growth and development of India has been seriously affected by the problem of malnutrition, and it is now being realised that every stage of life, from pregnancy, to infancy, to adolescence, to old age, is equally important to break the vicious intergenerational cycle of malnutrition.

Nutrition: A Lifecycle Approach adopts a lifecycle approach to the study of nutrition. It has been divided into two sections:

• Introduction to Human Nutrition, which deals with basic concepts in nutrition and includes chapters on all major nutrients, their functions, and rich sources in the Indian diet.
• Lifecycle Nutrition, which discussed the nutritional requirements of different stages in the lifecycle.

The important features of this book are:

• Discusses the concept of food for different cultures and the relationship of food with nutrition and health.
• Detailed discussion on each nutrient—energy, carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, water, minerals, and vitamins.
• Details the different cooking methods and the effect they have on nutrient content.
• Focuses on the different life stages—adults, pregnant women, nursing mothers, preschool and school-age children, adolescents, and the elderly—and their nutritional requirements.
• Separate chapters on feeding children with special needs; sports nutrition; and the link between nutrition and immunity.

Simple and comprehensive, Nutrition is a core text for all undergraduate students of Nutrition and allied courses. It is also a useful book for the health conscious, who seek authentic, updated facts about nutrition.

Ravinder Chadha is Associate Professor and Head, Department of Food and Nutrition, Lady Irwin College, New Delhi.
Pulkit Mathur is Assistant Professor, Department of Food and Nutrition, Lady Irwin College, New Delhi.

Foreword by C. Gopalan
Preface

Section I – Introduction to Human Nutrition

Chapter 1. Food, Nutrition and Health
Ravinder Chadha and Pulkit Mathur

Chapter 2. Nutrient Requirements and Recommendations
Ravinder Chadha

Chapter 3. Energy
Anupa Siddhu and Pulkit Mathur

Chapter 4. Carbohydrates
Pulkit Mathur

Chapter 5. Lipids
Pulkit Mathur

Chapter 6. Proteins
Pulkit Mathur

Chapter 7. Water and Major Minerals
Pulkit Mathur

Chapter 8. Trace Minerals
Pulkit Mathur

Chapter 9. Fat-soluble vitamins 
Pulkit Mathur

Chapter 10. Water-soluble vitamins
Pulkit Mathur

Chapter 11. Digestion and Absorption
Shailly Nigam

Chapter 12. Methods of Cooking
Salila Thomas

Chapter 13. Enhancing the nutritional quality of the diet
Sushma Sharma

Chapter 14. Nutrition Labelling
Pulkit Mathur and  Suman Kumari

Section II : Life Cycle Nutrition

Chapter 15. Principles of Meal Planning
Pulkit Mathur

Chapter 16. Food Based Dietary Guidelines
Meenal Srivastava

Chapter 17. Nutrition for Adults
Shavika Gupta

Chapter 18. Nutrition during Pregnancy
Pooja Raizada

Chapter 19. Nutrition during Lactation
Neena Bhatia

Chapter 20. Nutrition during Infancy
Sushma Sharma

Chapter 21. Nutrition for Preschoolers
Neena Bhatia 

Chapter 22. Nutrition for School age children
Prachi Mishra

Chapter 23. Nutrition during Adolescence
Prachi Mishra

Chapter 24. Nutrition for the Elderly
Manisha Sabharwal

Chapter 25. Exercise, Sports and Nutrition
Priti Rishi Lal

Chapter 26. Feeding Children with Special Needs
Veenu Seth

Chapter 27. Nutrition and Infection
Pulkit Mathur

About the Editors and Contributors